The effect of glass fiber reinforcement on properties high strength concrete mix using local materials

Abstract

The usage of high strength glass fiber reinforced concrete (HSGFRC) in the construction applications has been increasing worldwide. Especially in plain concrete due to it is less ductility and high brittle behavior. Use of fiber in plain concrete treating shrinkage cracking as well improve tensile behavior. On the other hand, glass fiber material has some advantage like alkali resistance and light weight compared to steel. Due to these advantages researchers prepared glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) to improve concrete properties. GFRC is composed of fine sand, cement, water, admixtures and alkali-resistant glass fibers (AR-GF). The main objective of this research is to study the effect of addition of alkali resistant glass fiber reinforced polymer (AR-GFRP) in concrete properties. Six different mixes were prepared using different percentage of glass fiber 0.0, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 by weight of cement the target compressive strength was calculated to be 55.2 MPa. Available materials in the local market were used. Results showed that it is possible to produce HSGFRC in Sudan using locally available materials if they are carefully selected. Based on the experimental results, the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and density of HSC was found to be increase as fiber percentage increases for both ages of 7 and 28 days. The maximum 28 days compressive strength of HSC was found to be 63.81 MPa recorded in M50 F4 with 1.5 glass fiber reinforcement. The density of HSC is found to increase slightly as fiber percentage increases, density value ranged from 2.415 to 2.442 kg/m3. The maximum 28 day’s splitting tensile strength of HSC was found to be 6.45 MPa recorded in M50 F4 with 1.5 glass fiber reinforcement. It can be concluded that the use of chopped glass fiber in concrete improve the mechanical properties and ductility.